If there’s one genre that thrives in VR it’s Rhythm Action and Dance. Synth Riders is yet another must have VR game to get you moving to the music.
At first glance there are a lot of similarities with VR’s flagship title Beat Saber and comparisons will obviously be made here but Synth Riders takes a different approach that prompts you to move your whole body more and replaces the sabers with a more straight forward system.
The general premise is to touch a series of colours balls that move towards you at different heights. These correspond with your hands, blue on the left and pink/purple on the right hand, but the balls often swap places and there are also golden ones which require you to put both hands together. The clever placement means that you’ll need to bend, duck and physically move around a lot more in order to hit them all.
The main game has different modes that measure either accuracy or strength, plus it allows you to choose from a range of difficulties and lets you choose between carrying on if you miss too many of the targets or, by default, ending the track. Scores are kept for each song and difficulty and you can track your progress against worldwide targets or friends you’ve added on your Oculus app.
Different backgrounds add new aesthetics to the game and go with different song packs, though you can choose which song and background you want to add to any song, anyway. While you might not notice the difference if you’re deep in the zone trying to hit those balls, it’s great to watch the game back with the backgrounds coming to life and everything flying around you.
The latest update brings a whole new music genre to the game with Electro Swing Essentials. It adds another background and some trickier levels but I feel the music fits perfectly with the game (even though I have no hope of getting through the levels on the higher difficulties!).
With fitness now added via the vitual YUR.watch Fitness Tracker in the game counting calories and movements, custom soundtracks supported officially without having to go through sideloading and a really solid main game, Synth Riders is a must have title for Oculus Quest that really gets your body moving.
Synth Riders
Pros
- Straightforward controls
- Much more body movements than other rhythm action games
- Loads of modes and backgrounds
- Fitness mode helps work out calories burnt
Cons
- Gets quite difficult quickly
